Where's the club at?
The Western Bulldogs made their second consecutive preliminary final this year, falling just two straight kicks short of making the decider. A good run with injuries this season meant many of their young guns didn't receive senior opportunities, but at the same time they got good game time out of Callan Ward and discovered a ready-made tagger in Liam Picken. The Dogs have a host of talls – Jarrad Grant, Jarrad Boumann, Ayce Cordy, Jordan Roughead and Liam Jones – waiting in the wings. The first two are about to enter their third year, while Roughead has a developed body that could see him play seniors next year.

Since the end of the season, the Dogs have re-signed captain Brad Johnson for another year, and are yet to decide on Jason Akermanis and Nathan Eagleton.

Trade gains
Barry Hall (from the Sydney Swans)

Trade losses
Third round draft pick – No.47 (to the Sydney Swans)

The ones that got away
As Andrejs Everitt was dangled nearly all week as trade bait, the Dogs were consistently linked to West Coast half-back flanker Mark Nicoski. When Everitt – who signed a new two-year contract late this season – didn't get traded, their need for Nicoski floundered somewhat. They confirmed their enquiry about the former Eagles' rookie earlier in the week, but said a deal was hard to procure. Before Hall was locked away, they were briefly linked to Brendan Fevola, but even then the affiliation was weak.

What the club said
"Andrejs is a two-year contracted player and we've always maintained he was a required player, so I think that's all good. It's good for Andrejs too. He can settle and not worry about the speculation that's been going on. It's a positive thing." – football operations manager James Fantasia.

What they still need
The majority of the post-season talk regarding the Dogs' wish list was centred around their acquisition of that ready-made tall forward – and this year, they actually pulled it off. Even though they've got a few emerging options learning their craft in the VFL, the recruitment of Hall will work wonders for the Bulldogs next year. While he hasn't been flagged as the solution to all their problems – and Rodney Eade wants him to "fit in" with the existing structure rather than become the central point – he will certainly help, both on field and off. 

All up, the Dogs' list is in pretty good shape. They could top up their big defender stocks in case Tom Williams fails to overcome his persistent battle with his body, or they could focus more on a small forward with Jason Akermanis and Johnson to hang up their boots in the coming years.

Draft strategy: the big decisions
Will the retaining of Everitt, the re-signing of Brian Lake and the recruitment of Hall force the Bulldogs into making a tough call on Nathan Eagleton and/or Akermanis?

They've got a stack of big youngsters – will they shore up their midfield stocks for the next few years when the draft pickings are lean?

With the success of Picken this year, and the fact the Dogs consider their list close to the ultimate, influence them to take the mature-aged recruit path once again?

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.